Black and Blood Red MAME Cocktail Cabinet

[hockeyfreak186]

Hey everyone,   
I've been wanting to build an arcade cabinet for as long as i can remember, so after looking around on this site and others i finally decided to dive in!  I worked at a family fun park with an arcade and loved it.  I eventually bought a Tekken 3 cab off eBay.  It was fun and i enjoyed it but i wanted to be able to play multiple games especially the classics.  So about 4 years later I finally planned and planned some more and decided to go with a 3 sided cocktail instead of an upright or bar top.  I wanted to spend as little as possible while making it look as good as I can, so i decided to keep the controls simple and skip the coin box and other aesthetic accessories for now.  I plan on lugging it around a lot from my apartment in college and my parents house,  so I didn't want anything too big.

As far as the computer goes, it's nothing special, just an old family computer that had a hard drive fail so i bought a new one and got to keep the computer.  I'ts not powerful enough to run newer higher graphic games, but perfect to run the lighter older games.  I might get a friends LCD monitor for the screen, i assume its a 19", otherwise i have an extra CRT one I can use, but it would just be a pain.  I got all my controls from groovy game gear and am happy with the feel/colors.  I plan to wire them using an Ipac.

I decided to make it three sided because i wanted to play games like pac man vertically, but also be able to play games like TMNT or Street fighter with a friend horizontally.  So the 2 vertical sides will have 1 joystick with 3 player buttons while the horizontal side will have 2 joysticks with 6 player buttons per player.  I feel this will be enough for the types of games i want to play and am pretty happy with the idea.

I have been working on and off for three weeks but have really only put in a few hours of work over 4 different days. Here are my pictures of what I have so far. 


this is just a pic of the parts i ordered from GGG


The top holes are for the control pannel wires and mounting while the middle hole is for the handles I have to move it around and the bottom ones are for the speakers.


I still need to get some hinges for the back of the cocktail so its open right now.


Just a pic of the brackets and the inside

here is my list of the things I have and the money I spent so far:

Computer:  Already Had
Monitor:  Already Had
Speakers:  Already Had
tools/hardware:  Already Had
0.75" plywood: $35
Brackets:  $9
Speaker Grilles and Handles: $9
Button/joysticks/Misc from GGG: $105
T-Molding:  $20
Shipping/Misc: $25

total: $203

I think thats pretty cheap considering I can finish it up for under $100

I plan on covering the cabinet in a textured black adhesive vinyl and putting plexi over the screen.  So thats it for now, any comments, advice or questions are very welcome and hopefully this post will motivate me to get this thing done before summer ends because I have a history of leaving projects unfinished,  Thanks!

[IG-88]

Looks pretty cool.    Do you have any plans that you could post? May like to build one like this myself.

[hockeyfreak186]

Thanks!  I used Kyle Lindstrom's plans which I found here: http://www.mikesarcade.com/arcade/cabplans.html .  I modified them a bit but that's what i used for guidance as the most part and they are pretty detailed.  I used the Pac-man plans.

[hockeyfreak186]

So I had some time to work on my cabinet for the first time in awhile.  I didn't get as much as I wanted done, but progress is progress.

So I attached the top and back on to the cab with the hinges I ordered.  They fit pretty well, not perfect, but well enough that its not noticeable.


This is a picture of the progress I made today.


With the top open


With the Back Open


With both open


this is the Fan with red leds that I want to mount on the front of the cab and put a speaker cover over it.


This is the TV im gonna try to mount.  Its a 21" which is different than the 19" lcd i was gonna use, but i liked the way it looked better.  This beast barely fits in the cab and its gonna be a pain making a mount to hold it.  I don't really wanna de-case it so i can use it for something else later if I want to take it out or whatever.  Same thing with the computer, im keeping it in its case, but with this new tv it needs to lay on its side on the floor with the side open to fit.


Here is the black vinyl I got from parts express, I cant wait to put it on!

So tomorrow I hope to start on my control panels and get the tv mounted.  I do have one question tho, how much bigger should I cut the hole in the top part of my cab than the actual screen size?

Thanks! 

[hockeyfreak186]

So I worked on the project again today, thats two days in a row!

Today I cut the monitor opening and mounted it with 2 rails.  The screen doesn't quite line up with the opening on the vertical sides because of the case's stand.  Having the screen offset would drive me crazy so i will probably work some dremel magic or something.  The computer and TV cased fit perfectly as you can see in the pics below.


Here is the case opened with monitor and computer in for sizing.


I don't know if it gets any closer than that


It fits!


I mounted the monitor bars with some brackets and combined with the tv, they kinda cover up where the wires from the CP were gonna go, but i should be able to squeeze em In somewhere.


Just a shot of the inside.  It's a bit messy i guess..

Well I think my next step is to finally get working on the CPs.  I have been putting it off for awhile but its gotta get done sometime right?  Well hopefully i have some updates soon, I don't know when I'll be able to work on it again, but i wanna finish and use this puppy!

[Radford119]

Nice cab man

[WhereEaglesDare]

Pretty good, looking at I dont know if it would have helped, other than cooling, to decase the TV or not.  may be worse because you would have to put the board somewhere.  Looks really good, what did you use to cut those holes?  router?

[hockeyfreak186]

Thanks guys!   Yea I figured it was more trouble than it was worth to de-case the tv and computer.  If heat is an issue I can always add more venting or fans.  For the holes, I usually used a jig saw.  Some were free hand and some I used guides,.  The only thing ive routed so far is the T-molding slots and shaved a bit where the hinges sit.  I have made a little progress since my last post.  I cuz some holes for the fan and power supply cord.  I also cut the top monitor piece by the vertical sides so that it has room for the joystick movement and so it has the "H" cocktail table look.  I have a lot of stuff going on so I wont be able to make any more progress for about a week!   But I will be sure to post back as soon as I can!

[hockeyfreak186]

So it has been awhile, but i finally found some time to work on my cab again.  I finally got put the vinyl on the cab and got some t molding on.  I have yet to finish the top, i need to cut some plexi for it first.  I also started making the control panels.  mostly just cut some holes but its a start.  Im still waiting on the ipac and leg levelers, but once i have those i can up it up on legs and start wiring.  I took some pics and its actually starting to take shape!


just a shot of one of the vertical sides.


The t-molding looks a little orangish but its really red and like the look a lot.


a shot overhead of the top of the cab, Im going to spray paint plexi and cover it.



here are the horizontal and vertical control panels.  I think the layout is ok, they seem a bit deep though, i might take an inch or so off, i haven't decided yet.

I feel like im finally making progress and soon ill have a cab i can play on!

[palomadoe]

Wow your cab is looking so finnneee. I bet you can't wait to play with those red joysticks they look like so much fun! I bet you are so sexy in person. You're obviously talented with your hands! I'd like to come visit you and your cab so we can play together

[HanoiBoi]

I bet you are so sexy in person. You're obviously talented with your hands! I'd like to come visit you and your cab so we can play together

[Havok]

Haha, someone here is obviously messing around...

Anyways, the only thing you might want to reconsider is the plexi; especially if it's going to be traveling and seeing college duty, it's going to get hella scratched quick. You might want to find a local glass shop and get a smoked glass tempered top instead; it will be more durable and scratch resistant...

[hockeyfreak186]

Thanks for the advice!  The only reason I had planned on plexi initially is because its readily available, I have some in my garage.  So it would cut down the cost, but I could always get a glass top later on.  For now ill stick with plexi and see how it goes, if it gets scratched to hell its not the end of the world.

I plan to finish up the CPs soon and realized I don't have a hole for an escape button.   I kinda want the cab to be playable for anyone so I want to limit the shifted functions if at all possible.  Also, can you have the enter key, for selecting games and such, be mapped to the same button as start within MALA or something?

[BurgerKingDiamond]

well you got it to fit, so I guess it doesn't matter, but decasing a TV really doesn't take any effort at all. If you had decased it, and the computer you would have a lot more room to work with.
I'm not sure if all TV's do, but when I decased my TV, there were already brackets in the corners of the tube that I used to mount it. If you do decase it you could probably use the same rails you already have (assuming you have the same brackets on your tube).

I was intimidated at first about decasing a TV, but my situation left me no choice. But I learned that there's nothing to it. Just be careful with the neck tube!!!!!!

[hockeyfreak186]

So its been awhile, but I finally have the time and the motivation to finish my cab! I've been meaning and wanting to work on it, but haven't had the chance to until now. Since my last post i haven't done a whole lot. I attached the legs and put together a frustrating horizontal CP . I had trouble deciding what I wanted it to look like and how it would open, but I finally just dove in and made it work. Some pictures of it spray painted without the T-molding and vinyl are below! Next, Ill finish the CP before i attach it then get to work on the vertical sides.


The horizontal side CP


CP opened up

Til next time!

[drventure]

Nice job! That's a great color scheme.

[hockeyfreak186]

Thanks drventure!

So I got around to putting the finishing touches on the horizontal control panel, and I was pretty happy with the results.  I can't wait to get everything together and start wiring!

[littleimp]

Nice progress and I like the colour scheme. I was comtemplating a cocktail when i did mine but don't really have the ideal space for one. I prefer CRT to LCD too, much more authentic.

[Shortbus]

NICE WORK! Great pics & documentation, greatly appreciated!